Will the final episodes of The Last of Us season 1 be as sad as episode 5?

Image via HBO

Warning: The article contains spoilers for the first five episodes of The last of us on HBO.

HBO packed the first half The last of us The first season is brimming with tragic incidents and heartbreaking developments, leaving newer fans wondering if the rest of this run will be just as painful in the month ahead. We won’t be able to get too deep into spoiler territory, but we may have an answer to that question for you.

At this point, we’ve witnessed the destruction of the world, the deaths of several characters, all sorts of gruesome post-apocalyptic landscapes, and the terrifying sense of the pathetic casualness with which people, even our protagonists, kill other people. Living in The last of us The world is like a hellish nightmare that encompasses all of humanity’s fears and insecurities, but will it always be like this?

We’ve seen Ellie crack a few dad jokes about his dad-to-be, and Joel even laughed at a few. Frank and Bill also led a relatively peaceful life together in their safe haven, so it’s not as if everything was doom and gloom up to this point. That being said, we can’t help but notice that The last of us has a tendency to condemn its characters to some of the worst fates imaginable for a human being, and the last episode was no exception.

But now that we’re essentially getting into the “fall” portion of the game, what can we expect for what Joel and Ellie will face off against, and more importantly, will there be more tragedy to come?

It’s not just the fact that The last of us wants to be a dark story steeped in human suffering. Nothing that happens in this world undermines this most important suspension of disbelief formed in the first episode. Human society lies in shambles, and human decency is even more scarce as humans have had to reluctantly become more cruel to survive the harsh wasteland.

The show even makes it clear that Joel isn’t necessarily a good guy. He has even murdered innocent people in the past to survive. So if your main protagonist, protecting humanity’s only hope, isn’t truly a paragon of virtue, what can you expect from everyone else bent on ensuring their own survival?

Of course, the story the authors wish to tell could still avoid the grim nature of the end times. It’s basically a creative choice. Note, however, that things will only get darker from here on out. Joel and Ellie will find their own little sanctuary, but that peace won’t last when they’re swept back into the wild.

Between all the human predators left to fend for themselves, the fascist government formed as a knee-jerk reaction to Corcyceps, and even the radical fireflies, our duo has a lot to deal with out there, and that doesn’t even factor in the infected.

The last of us essentially takes place over the course of a year, with each season serving as a narrative hub for a portion of the 2013 Naughty Dog game. We’ve now left summer behind, but that still leaves us with autumn, winter and spring. In terms of what to expect from these three chapters, Winter will present Joel and Ellie with their toughest challenge yet.

It might not be as emotionally scarring as what we’ve already seen through – I mean, there wasn’t much of a chance for that after surviving the heartbreaking Bill and Frank episode – but in terms of beating it against it, insurmountable odds and a ticking clock that definitely stands out throughout the narrative.

summarize something The last of us will continue to make you cry even in the most unlikely narrative moments. Characters don’t necessarily get killed, but that doesn’t mean the story doesn’t have a few dark twists up its sleeve. And as people who played The Last of Us Part II will tell you that the next two seasons will get infinitely worse, so much so that you may actually need to book therapy sessions afterwards. An exaggeration, to be sure, but not far off the mark.